


just eat it

by gold_rush



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Cooking, Best Friends, Dinner, Eating, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Mikasa Ackerman & Eren Yeager Are Siblings, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Study Group, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 10:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12363681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gold_rush/pseuds/gold_rush
Summary: It's Hanji's turn to host the group's study night. Levi is a good friend, so he'll eat whatever his best friend makes and he'll be happy about it. The others are a little harder to please.





	just eat it

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little thing I wrote at midnight.

‘Dinner is served!’ Hanji squeals in delight, her hands pressed firmly against the frame of the kitchen door - like she’s reanimated a corpse rather than worked out how to turn on the oven. Her eyes wide and wild, her mouth twitching in excitement - barely a moment away from releasing an unwavering, maniacal cackle. 

Mikasa and Eren exchange concerned glances from where they’re sprawled out on the floor, their lecture notes scattered around them - like paper halos above fallen angels. Armin is too busy making notes to look up, but Levi abandons his pen mid-sentence and sits upright, smiling over at his best friend before he pushes himself up off the ground and says, ‘ Great! I’m starving.’

Slowly, the others follow Levi into the modest dining room, sitting around the table without saying a word, the cutlery left in an unceremonious pile at the centre of the table. Eren starts pairing knives and forks, handing them out to his friends - who take them grateful and continue to sit in silence as they wait for Hanji to emerge with their food. 

They haven’t been looking forward to this, Hanji’s turn at hosting a study night - terrified by whatever unholy concoctions the ever-experimental scientist might come up with. But it was the logical choice. The place Levi’s shares with Erwin is tiny, Eren and Mikasa still live in the dorms - which are never a good place to visit on a Friday night. And Armin has hosted them three weeks in a row now. So, really, at this point, it’d be rude not to let Hanji host. And host she does.

Emerging from the kitchen with two plates in her hands, another two resting on her forearms, and a fifth balancing precariously on top of her head, Hanji closes in on the table. Levi moves to stand as soon as he sees her. Hanji dropping down into a dramatic courtesy in front of him, allowing the small man to take the plate from her head before laying it down carefully on the table.

When they look down at the plate, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin all bite back their reactive winces. Eren failing most-miserably at wiping away his grimace as he glares at the mush. Like a astronaut discovering unsavoury life for the first time. Levi catches his eye, shoots him a withering look, and Eren smiles apologetically, making sure to say, ‘thank you so much, Hanji!’ when the laughing woman places a full plate of murky slop in front of him. 

Once she’s handed out their food, Levi pulls out a chair and waits for his friend to bend her knees before he tucks the chair in beneath her. She nods at him politely and he bows his head in return, taking a seat off to her right, next to Mikasa. Opposite Eren, on her left, who’s sat next to Armin.

From the head of the table, Hanji clears her throat and pauses dramatically, her eyes fluttering shut as she beams, ‘bon appétit!’, and picks up her fork. The others follow suit, but none of them dare to stab at the mush.

‘What’s in this, by the way?’ Armin asks quietly, his face flushed, no doubt wondering how he’s supposed to eat a spoonful, let alone the entire thing. It smells awful. Truly awful. There’s too much going on all at once. It’s an exhausting cabaret of scents constantly assaulting the senses. 

Instead of answering him directly, Hanji simply leans forward conspiratorially and says, barely above a whisper, her elbows planted on the table, ‘Oh, you know, a little bit of this and that. But it’s all vegetarian, so, you don’t have to worry!’

‘Oh, thank you,’ Armin says, clamping his mouth shut as his grip tightens around his fork.

Eren and Mikasa watch in amazement as Hanji scoops up a mountain of mashed-whatever and slips it into her mouth, swallowing it down with a groan of pleasure. Mikasa scoops up a little, tastes the tiniest of bites and has to stop herself from gagging on it. Eren stares across at his sister with saucer-eyes, pressing his fork against Hanji’s concoction. As if he's hoping that pressing it into the crockery with make it disintegrate into nothingness. It doesn’t.

Before long, all eyes are on Levi. He smiles over at Hanji, scoops a massive portion of the unspecified sludgy mix onto his fork and slips it past his lips. Just seeing that is enough to make Mikasa want to heave, gulping down a mouthful of water, hoping that the liquid will stop her from being physically sick. 

‘It’s perfect, Hanji,’ Levi says with a gentle smile, scooping up another forkful and shovelling it in. Sat across the table,  Armin looks pale and a little scared. But Levi looks fine. In fact, Levi looks like he’s eating the best meal he’s ever had - humming with each new mouthful. His shoulders relaxed and loose. 

‘Really, you like it?’ Hanji smiles, before eating more of her creation. ‘I did work hard on it.’

‘I know you did,’ Levi says with a warm smile. ‘And it’s wonderful. Hey, maybe you can make me some more for my freezer. If it’s not too much trouble?’

‘I have loads left in the kitchen! You can have that,’ Hanji says, her voice buoyant with excitement. 

‘Thanks, Hanji,’ Levi says, eating a little more, with not so much as a twitch or a quiver. 

Eren can’t take his eyes of him.  _ How is he doing it? _

‘Eat your food before it gets cold,’ Levi says then, when he realises that only he and Hanji have been eating. Then, like they’re being sent to the gallows, they each pick up a fork, load it with food, and put it in their mouths. It takes them a long,  _ long _ time to swallow - with Armin relying on half glass of water to wash a small mouthful down - but they manage it, eventually, offering Levi a series of pained, tiny smiles.

‘Mmm. So good,’ Eren mutters and Levi smiles at him appreciatively before eating a little more himself. This goes on, and on, and on; until their plates are clean. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin staring off into space like they’re seeing things they can never unsee. 

‘You guys are being really quiet,’ Hanji observes, the faintest hint of worry seeping through her body as she looks around at her friends. ‘Is something wrong? Did I get something wrong?’

‘Nothing’s wrong.This is all perfect, Hanji. They’re just worried about their exams next week,’ Levi starts, his voice even and unruffled. Hanji has tried really hard, she’s made them a meal from scratch, no matter how bad it tastes, no matter how much it stinks, Levi will sit there and sing its praises. 

‘You are?’ Hanji asks, looking around the table. ‘But we’ve all been studying so hard.’

‘We’re not all naturals like you,’ Armin tries, after catching Levi’s eye. ‘But we’ll be okay. You’re fuelling our brains right now.’

‘I’m glad you like it,’ Hanji says, her smile growing. ‘I made us dessert too.’

‘Well, I hope it’s as good as this,’ Mikasa says with a smile, spooning the last of the slop into her mouth. She manages to get it down, then she prevents it from coming back up before, finally, she leans back in her chair and lets relief overcome her as she lets out a puff of air and pats her bloated stomach. ‘That was so good, Hanj.’

‘Just give me a minute then!’ Hanji beams, jumping up from her seat, full of happy energy, the legs of the chair scraping across the floor awkwardly. Making Eren wince.

Then she’s gathering up their empty plates and slipping back into the kitchen.

Levi’s smile falters then, just a little, but he doesn’t say a word before his contented expression is back. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin find it harder to maintain the pretence.

‘Levi,’ Eren begins and the man in question turns to glare at him.

‘Just eat it,’ Levi says, looking at each of his dinner companions in turn. ‘Just eat it and smile. We’re her friends so…  _ just eat it _ .’

‘But-’ Armin begins helplessly before he sighs heavily and nods once in understanding.

‘Look, I’m not saying that we can’t have opinions,’ Levi starts. ‘I’m just saying that we can’t have them here. Please, for her. Eren, if you eat your dessert like a trooper I swear I’ll make it up to you later.’

‘Okay,’ Eren smiles, and he can’t say that he’s not intrigued by his boyfriend’s promise, but he’s not expecting anything in return for a display of basic kindness. ’But I’ll do it anyway, for Hanji.’

‘Thank you,’ Levi says, his eyebrows drawn up appreciatively. Taking a sip of water from his glass as Hanji re-emerges from the kitchen with five servings of a strange, blue, slightly wobbly substance balanced on her person. 

‘I saved some for Erwin too,’ Hanji smiles as she starts handing out bowls and spoons. ‘I hope he likes it.’

‘I’m sure he will,’ Eren says and Levi smiles over at his lover.

‘Yeah, I’ll take some back to our place, just for him,’ Levi assures her as she sinks into her chair and starts tucking in. The others follow suit and, thankfully, it doesn’t take as long to finish as the previous dish - the vague lemon flavour making it easier to stomach. It’s not nice, and it’s a billion miles from perfect, but it’s almost edible. At least, when compared to the earlier dish. 

When they’ve finished eating, they all thank Hanji for cooking for them; then they return to their textbooks. Each of them excusing themselves to the bathroom periodically. Whether they throw it all up or not, Levi doesn’t care, he only cares that Hanji doesn’t know about it. She’s the best friend he’s ever had. He’d die for her, he’d genuinely kill for her, so eating food that tastes a little funky is nothing. He’s a big enough man to handle that.

As the night draws on they get tireder and tireder, until they all decide to call it quits and go home. Mikasa and Eren head off first, with Eren pressing a gentle kiss against Levi’s mouth before he leaves. Holding his lover close, so he can lean down, nip at his earlobe, and say, ‘Don’t forget you owe me one.’

‘I won’t,’ Levi says with a smile. ‘Not that you’d let me anyway.’

And then they’re off, with Armin following shortly behind them. Leaving Levi and Hanji to scoop the remnants of the food into freezer-safe tupperware. Hanji pulling sticky notes and a pen out of a drawer to label two of the boxes ‘for Erwin ♥’. 

The duo hang out for a little longer after that, Hanji curled up against Levi’s side as they watch the end of some shitty 1960’s adventure film, where they’ve enlarged a regular iguana and decided to call it a ‘dinosaur’. Then she starts to fall asleep and Levi says goodnight, kissing her on ther cheek before he stands outside her door with an armful of containers, waiting to hear the click of the latch and the bolt slide across before he moves away. 

Almost as soon as he gets home, Erwin arrives home too, tired from a long night working at the bar. As soon as he sees the boxes of food he gravitates towards them, the temptation sucking him into their orbit. But, as soon as Erwin touches the lid, Levi is there, pulling the boxes away.

‘It’s probably best not to,’ He says, his cheeks flushing guiltily.

‘That bad?’ Erwin laughs and Levi hums in confirmation, not quite able to make himself say it out loud.

‘Not great,’ He offers eventually and Erwin nods. 

‘I’ll eat a bit of it at least,’ The blonde says with a warm smile.

‘But-’ Levi begins, a hand on his shoulder halting his words.

‘For Hanji,’ Erwin says. ‘She probably worked hard on it. I should give it a go.’

‘Alright,’ Levi says, watching as his friend opens a container and recoils, the smell of the mush hitting him at full force.

‘Oh, wow,’ He says, looking over at Levi with wide eyes. ‘That’s a little strong. But what are friends for, right?’

‘Right,’ Levi says, opening the drawer beside him, passing Erwin a fork before pulling one out for himself.

‘I’ll give you hand, I think I’m mostly used to it at this point anyway,’ Levi offers grimly.

Erwin smiles across at him, and says, his voice warm and pleasant, ‘You’re a good friend, Levi.’

Levi smiles back and says, without any malice, ‘Just shut up and eat it.’

**Author's Note:**

> I love Levi/Hanji friendship fics. I can't be the only one.


End file.
